The Hawaii Department of Transportation announced Wednesday plans to resurface 10.5 lane miles of Vineyard Blvd. from Palama St. to the H-1 Freeway on-ramp. The $8.8 million project is scheduled to begin during the last week of March.

The department says major improvements are required to extend the service life of the existing roadway, enhance highway safety and improve the riding surface. Improvements will include reconstructing weakened pavement areas, replacing damaged curb, gutter and sidewalk, constructing curb ramps, installing new bus pads and loop detectors, replacing existing traffic signal heads with new, energy-efficient LED optical units, extending left turn lanes at the Palama St. and Liliha St. intersections and landscaping.

“Vineyard Blvd. was last resurfaced in 1995,” said HDOT Director Glenn Okimoto. “That’s nearly 20 years of wear and tear from approximately 35,000 vehicles that use this route every day. The HDOT continues to make progress on addressing the state highway system’s resurfacing needs and we continue to ask for the public’s patience as we do this necessary work.”

According to HDOT, the Vineyard resurfacing project is a federal aid project funded with 80 percent federal and 20 percent state funds.

The roadwork will require lane closures primarily during the day but will include some nighttime work and ramp closures. Lane closure times will begin as early as 8:30 a.m. and finish by 3:30 p.m. Some on- and off-ramps will be closed on weekends during different times throughout the project.

As Vineyard is one of the alternate routes for the H-1 Freeway Rehabilitation Project, motorists will now be advised to use Nimitz Hwy. and Dillingham Blvd. whenever possible.